Obsession Review: A Dark, Uncomfortable Love Horror Story
If Obsession is anything to go by, Curry Barker is the next big thing in horror.
Obsession proves that even a simple horror idea can be very effective - “what if someone actually got the obsessive love they thought they wanted?” - and then drags that idea into increasingly uncomfortable territory, until the whole thing starts feeling like emotional suffocation.
Plot
After breaking the mysterious “One Wish Willow” to win his crush’s heart, a hopeless romantic gets exactly what he asked for. However, he soon discovers that some desires come at a dark and sinister price.
Good Points
Inde Navarrette gives an excellent, unsettling performance
The horror escalates naturally from emotional discomfort
Strong atmosphere of creeping obsession throughout
The film balances sympathy and horror very well
Great use of tension without relying constantly on jump scares
The central concept is genuinely disturbing
Strong emotional discomfort underneath the horror
The film commits fully to its darker ideas
Bad Points
Relies on shock value a bit too often at times
Some emotional themes could’ve been explored a bit deeper
My Thoughts on Obsession
Nikki becomes terrifying because she still feels human
Nikki, played the brilliant Inde Navarrette, is the star of the show here, as she puts in a fantastic performane to join the scream queen ranks, and even when her behaviour becomes genuinely disturbing, there’s still enough warmth and familiarity to her that makes it all still feel believable in a deeply uncomfortable way, which just makes everything worse.
One minute Nikki feels playful and emotionally vulnerable, while the next minute she feels like someone emotionally tightening a grip around another person’s throat without fully understanding the damage she’s causing, so that constant shift makes every scene with her tense, and she nails it all wonderfully well.
She slowly turns affection into ownership
The horror here doesn’t arrive immediately, because at first, Nikki’s sudden attachment almost feels like an exaggerated romance - she’s attentive, affectionate, and intensely focused on Bear in a way that probably looks appealing to him at first because it validates everything he wanted.
Then things start slipping, where small moments become uncomfortable, conversations become controlling, and the affection starts feeling possessive, but the film handles this escalation really well because it never suddenly flips into full horror mode overnight, as it lets the behaviour build gradually until you suddenly realise things crossed the line a long time ago, which at that point, the tension is already sitting in your chest.
Bear is frustrating but believable
Something I did really like is that the film doesn’t suddenly make Bear smart once things get dangerous, because he is someone that keeps making bad decisions, and even when it’s obvious everything is spiralling, part of him still wants to hold onto the parts of the wish that benefit him.
There’s this selfishness underneath his panic where he keeps hoping he can somehow keep the affection without dealing with the consequences attached to it, and that feels painfully human - an ordinary person who wanted something badly enough that he ignored every warning sign attached to it, and thankfully, the film doesn’t turn him into an heroic victim.
The discomfort matters more than the violence
The film definitely goes hard when it wants to as well, with some scenes that become genuinely brutal very quickly, and the violence lands because it feels emotionally ugly rather than entertaining, so when things explode, it doesn’t feel like the movie celebrating anything, it feels like consequences finally crashing through the room.
But the moments that worked best for me weren’t even the violent ones, it was the quieter scenes where Nikki’s behaviour becomes just slightly too intense, slightly too controlling, and slightly too emotionally dependent, simply because it all feels very possible.
The film really understands that obsessive love is terrifying, and a lot of stories like this accidentally romanticise obsession while pretending to criticise it, but Obsession mostly avoids that trap, where it makes it very clear that this isn’t love anymore, it’s ownership disguised as affection - Nikki doesn’t just want Bear’s attention, she wants complete emotional possession over him, and the more that need grows, the uglier everything becomes.
The tension keeps escalating without fully resetting
Structurally I also really liked what little breathing room the movie gives you once things properly unravel, and every time Bear thinks he might regain control of the situation, things immediately get worse again, so the tension keeps stacking on top of itself until the film starts feeling emotionally claustrophobic.
That pressure works really well for most of the runtime, and even when the movie occasionally leans too hard into shock value a couple of times, the underlying tension is strong enough to hold everything together.
But underneath all the violence and chaos, there’s something painfully believable about people wanting connection so badly that they destroy themselves trying to force it into existence, and all the other elements of the film almost becomes secondary after a while, as what matters more is the emotional desperation underneath everything.
Final Verdict
Curry Barker is a new gem in horror it seems, and I look forward to seeing what he is does next, and hopefully Inde Navarrette is involved, but if not, I will also look forward to what she does next as well.
I thought Obsession was excellent, with brilliant tension that escalates constantly, and the film commits fully to its disturbing premise without softening the ugliness underneath it - not subtle in the slightest, but definitely effective.
Trailer
Directed and written by - Curry Barker
Cast includes - Inde Navarrette, Michael Johnston, Cooper Tomlinson, Megan Lawless, and Andy Richter
Cinematography - Taylor Clemons
Edited by - Curry Barker
Music by - Rock Burwell
Running time - 109 minutes
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Good Movie for those who haven’t seen it.
Excellent analysis. And the most terrifying thing for me is that Bear doesn't stop wanting. Even when he realizes he's suffocating. The film doesn't let us say, "He's a victim." Because he made that wish. And she became his shadow.
That's why obsession is now only shown in horror films like Together 2025. Drama wouldn't be able to handle the honesty.